2026-04-29
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Finance & Investments
The $116.8M investment will help the 36-team German soccer league fund marketing campaigns and expand its audience internationally.
Alongside the funding, the apparel giant extended its contract to supply the league's official match balls through the 2034 season.
This deepens the brand's long-standing ties to German soccer, which already includes an 8% ownership stake in top club Bayern Munich.
The Los Angeles-based investment firm holds indirect stakes in the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers to build credibility in the market.
The majority of the $50M fund targets early-stage artificial intelligence and sports technology startups to chase higher returns than traditional team ownership provides.
Professional athletes, including NFL quarterback Jameis Winston, make up 65% of the fund's investors, actively helping the firm identify and secure new deals.
The federal government will give $660M over five years to national sport organizations to increase youth participation and improve safety standards.
This investment responds to a recent public commission which found that decades of financial neglect made the sports system strained and unsafe.
The remaining funds will support athlete mental health and facility upgrades, while sports groups are required to seek private corporate sponsorships.
Apollo (the specialty insurer owned by Skyward Group, not the private equity firm) is expanding into sports and entertainment (S&E) coverage.
The new class joins Apollo's existing contingency and accident & health lines, creating an integrated offering for clients in live events, sports, and media.
The move targets a growing niche where insurers cover risks like event cancellation, athlete injury, and production disruption, helping Apollo diversify its specialty portfolio.
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Media, Broadcasting & Sponsorships
Entertainment giant Disney will keep its 72% stake in ESPN because executives believe live sports are essential to the company's future strategy.
The sports network remains highly profitable, generating $2.8B in operating income last year despite a slight drop caused by cord cutting.
Reinforcing this commitment, ESPN recently gave the National Football League a 10% ownership stake in exchange for valuable television broadcasting rights.
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Teams & Leagues
The new system rewards teams that barely miss the playoffs with the best odds to win the top draft pick.
The three teams with the absolute worst records will face a penalty, receiving lower odds to discourage purposeful losing.
Team owners will vote on May 28 to approve the changes, which would take effect for the 2027 player draft.
Major League Soccer franchise LAFC bought a 90% stake in the historic Swiss club in 2024 to revive its struggling performance.
Angry fans protested the American owners with harsh banners and empty seats, frustrated that the 27-time champions face league demotion.
LAFC warned that selling risks the team's survival because daily operating costs heavily exceed revenues without their outside financial support.
EuroLeague, Europe's top basketball competition, learned its teams can join by buying a permanent spot or qualifying through on-court performance.
Global basketball governing body FIBA and the NBA have already received over 20 official bids from a pool of 120 interested investors.
These initial franchise bids are hitting the expected $500M to $1B range.
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Miscellaneous
Local organizers requested a top-tier escort that ignores traffic laws, a security level usually reserved for heads of state like the US President.
Vancouver police rejected the request because executives from FIFA, the global soccer governing body, do not legally qualify for such extreme road closures.
FIFA stated its president was completely unaware of this request, which was made by local organizers preparing for the 2026 Men's World Cup.
Damon Jones, a former professional basketball player who earned $21M, admitted to selling secret team information to illegal sports gamblers.
He also confessed to acting as a celebrity lure for a rigged poker ring designed to cheat victims out of money.
As the first of 34 defendants to plead guilty, he faces up to 105 months in federal prison for wire fraud.
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